


Once in a Blue Moon

by Dumb_Trash_Monster



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Comfort/Angst, F/M, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27762718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dumb_Trash_Monster/pseuds/Dumb_Trash_Monster
Summary: Ben is a mess, and April has an idea of how to help him. She's never done anything nice for him, but with Andy's help, she's sure she can cheer him up. Her idea: Calzones. (Set between End of the World and The Treaty.)
Relationships: Andy Dwyer/April Ludgate, Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Once in a Blue Moon

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Sarcastic_Soulmate for beta reading this. Very cool person 10/10

April sat on her couch playing an intense game of Mario Kart with Andy when she heard a sound that was not the Mario Kart soundtrack.

“Is that Ben and his sad music again?” she asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not what he usually listens to. He’s normally got R.E.M., which is okay, but not as good as Dave Matthews, ” Andy replied.

April ignored her husband’s musical opinions, and listened carefully for a moment, tuning out the sounds of Luigi throwing something at Mario. “Is that Frank Sinatra? I hate this. It’s like living with my parents again.”

“Well it might not be Ben,” Andy reasoned.

April gave him an incredulous look. “Who else would it be?”

“I don’t know. Frank?”

“Sinatra? No. I think he’s dead. And even Frank Sinatra is too cool to be hanging out with Ben, so it’s Ben, with no Frank Sinatra.”

Andy frowned. “I guess so. Should we check on him? He’s seemed a bit down since we got back from the Grand Canyon.”

“No. He sucks,” April said before returning to the game.

She managed to get Ben and his emo self out of her mind as she caught up to Andy. She nudged him with her elbow to distract him. His cart went flying off the track, and before long, the game was over, with April as the winner. The Mario music subsided enough for her to clearly hear the melancholy swing music coming from Ben’s room.

“Fine,” she said.

“Huh? Find what?” Andy responded.

“No. Fine. We can check on Ben. Like you mentioned earlier.” As much as April hated to admit it, she did feel bad for Ben. It was also kind of cute that Andy was worried about him, even if he was a nerd.

April wanted to avoid being nice to her roommate, so she made a quick bet with Andy as they walked towards Ben’s door. “Bet you he’s crying.”

“Bet you he’s not. What are we betting for here?”

April thought about this. Instead of a straightforward answer, an idea popped into her head. “Loser has to drive.”

“Drive where?”

“You’ll see,” April answered as she knocked on Ben’s door. Without waiting for an answer, Andy opened the door, and the couple walked in.

Ben was standing at his desk, facing away from the door. He was staring down at something he was holding in his hands. April thought maybe it was a piece of paper. He turned to face his guests. He was dry-eyed, but wore a sad smile.

Andy grinned down at April to gloat about his win. She rolled her eyes at this and looked back to Ben.

“So why did you guys just barge in here? Is there a problem, or are you just looking to bother me?” Ben asked, already slightly annoyed.

“We were worried about you, man,” Andy answered.

“He was worried about you,” April corrected. “I wanted to see if you had morphed into a swamp monster.”

“Well I’m a little annoyed with you guys. You just broke a glass door and ran off to the Grand Canyon,” Ben said.

“Yeah, but we got the door fixed. You’re just sad that Leslie dumped you,” Andy said, trying to be sincere.

“She did not dump me!”

April raised an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure she dumped you for being a nerd who listens to vocal jazz. At least, that’s what the oracle told me.”

“What oracle? Never mind. You guys are wrong. It was mutual. We dumped each other. And we only did it because it wasn’t allowed in the first place. That’s why you guys promised not to tell anyone.”

Andy piped up, “Actually I mostly kept the secret because you said you’d make dinner for us every week.”

“Yeah. And you really haven’t been holding up on your end of the bargain recently,” April added.

“You don’t get to continue blackmailing me after we broke up. That’s not how this works!” Ben exclaimed as he waved his arms around.

“Fine,” Andy said, before noticing the paper that Ben had been waving around along with his arm. “What’s that?”

“Oh it’s nothing. Nothing,” Ben stammered.

“Ben, what is it?” April asked sternly.

Ben set the paper down on his desk, away from April and Andy. “It’s just a note. From a while ago.”

Andy scampered over to the desk and grabbed the creased line paper before Ben could stop him. He looked down at the note, reading it carefully. “Oh. It’s from Leslie. Hey April, look at this. It’s sweet.”

“Doubt that,” April replied as she took the note and skimmed it. “What’s this at the bottom here? Some kind of nightmare beast?”

Ben quickly snatched the paper as his cheeks reddened. “It’s a kiss monster,” he admitted.

“Ewwww,” April said with exaggerated disgust.

“I’m sorry you weren’t the target audience for a note that wasn’t for you,” Ben muttered sarcastically. “Are you done now?”

April tugged at Andy’s sleeve. “Yeah. We’ll go. And that kiss monster should be a war crime.” She pulled her husband out of the room. She continued dragging him along as she heard Ben’s door slam. They continued walking like this until they were outside at the car. April remembered that she had to drive, then hopped into the driver's seat.

Andy got into the passenger seat as he asked, “Where are we going? The Grand Canyon again? That sounds fun.”

“No. The grocery store.”

“What are we getting? Do we need milk again?”

“No. We have like five half empty jugs of milk. We’re not getting more. I’m not sure exactly what we’re getting. I can look it up, but I kinda wanna make out with you first.”

Andy nodded enthusiastically at this idea.

//

By the time April and Andy returned home, the sun was setting. Granted, it was November. So the sun set really early. They carried their groceries inside. The trip to the store hadn’t been easy; April and Andy hadn’t gone grocery shopping much ever since Ben moved in.

They went over to Ben’s room and stormed in without warning. He was lying face up in his bed, still listening to that Frank Sinatra as he stared at the ceiling. He remained in his lazy position as he registered Andy and April’s grand entrance. “Why are you here again?”

“Get up. We’re going to the kitchen,” April commanded.

“What? Why? No?”

“We’re gonna help you make dinner. Doesn’t that sound fun? Cooking with April and Andy!” Andy exclaimed.

“Ehhh. I think I’ll pass.”

“No passing! Last night your dinner was two beers and a single baby carrot. That isn’t healthy,” April said harshly.

“And you guys had chicken tenders with Nutella on them. You are not the ones who should be doing any kind of health lecture,” Ben retorted, still gazing at the ceiling. Noting all of Ben’s interest in the ceiling, April quickly looked up to see if there was something special about it. There wasn’t.

April looked down at the ground and groaned. “We went to the store… and we got the ingredients for calzones. Is that good enough for you?”

Ben perked up. He didn’t sit up, but he did raise his eyebrows and lift his head to make eye contact with his roommates. “Hmm. I do like the sound of that.”

The moment Ben said that, Andy walked over to him and scooped him up in his arms. He carried Ben over to the kitchen as he protested that he was just about to get up.

Ben grumbled as Andy set him down. “You know I hate that.”

“Well I hated seeing you so sad, so we’re going to make some calzones, and it’s gonna be fun, and you’re gonna be happy.”

“I was fine with seeing you so sad,” April quickly added, not wanting to seem like she cared.

Ben grinned a bit, either not registering or not buying April’s insult. “Alright well, April, do you wanna cut some vegetables? Andy, I’ll help you with the dough.”

Ben looked at April as he guided Andy over to the flour. “I don’t trust him with the knife,” he whispered to her before frowning. “I actually don’t trust you with it either. Do you want to make the dough with Andy?”

April whispered, “No! Knife!” as she held up the knife with a crazy look in her eyes. Ben shuddered and walked away.

Then the cooking commenced. April was good with the knife, to no one’s surprise. Ben dutifully explained the dough making process to Andy before turning on the stove. He managed to find a pan without any fried marbles, and began making the sauce.

//

The calzones were in the oven relatively quickly, and Andy only burned himself twice. April couldn’t help but wonder how he got burnt at all; he had been working exclusively with the dough.

While the trio waited for the calzones to cook, April wandered into her own room to examine her actions. She was helping Ben. She was doing something nice for him just because she felt bad for him. What had she become? Maybe she was becoming a kind person. April shuddered at the thought.

After a couple of minutes of thought, April walked back into the living room, where she saw Andy and Ben with their eyes glued to the TV, and their hands aggressively fixed to Wii controllers. April took the time to scrutinize this odd moment. The two of them could not have been more concentrated on this Mario game. Andy squinted at the screen, and Ben actually stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth like a lame cartoon.

April watched as both men jumped from their seats, and shouted.

“Damn it!” Ben yelled as Andy shouted triumphantly. Ben took a deep breath to calm down before saying, “Wow. You’re really good at this. Congratulations.” Ben extended his hand for a sportsmanlike handshake.

“Wooo! Wooo!” Andy yelled as he completely ignored Ben’s hand. “Should I go pro?”

“I don’t think that’s a thing,” Ben answered as he awkwardly lowered his hand.

Andy didn’t seem to hear Ben say that because he continued cheering. His eyes then landed on April. April grinned and braced for what was coming. Andy rushed to her and picked her up before spinning her around victoriously. Mid spin, April noticed Ben deflate and flop back down on the couch. She tapped Andy's shoulder, and he set her down.

She walked over to the couch and sat down. “What’s wrong?” she asked, before realizing that she had probably only said those words once.

Ben sighed. “Well it’s really nothing. Just, you know, you guys got married recently. And now you’re super happy together, and that’s great. It just kind of reminds me of...” He trailed off.

“Well that’s tough,” April said. “I’m not gonna stop hugging my husband though. And I’m definitely not going to stop making out with him regardless of if you’re in the room. This is still our house.”

“I know that. I do. And by no means do you have to stop. It’s just weird seeing two people happy together when you’ve just broken up with someone. Although, it would be nice if you just went in your room to make out. It’s the courteous thing to do, even if I was in a fine mood.”

“Well, we’re not doing that. We can’t make out in our room, that’s where we have sex... most of the time. There are exceptions, ” April responded.

“Ugh. Fine,” Ben grumbled, looking thoroughly disgusted.

//

Soon, Andy, April, and Ben were sitting at their table eating their calzones.

“You know what, these are actually really good!” Andy proclaimed. “Only issue is that they’re kinda hard to eat.”

That last part was very apparent to April. Andy had given up on silverware, and was just using his hands.

“Yeah. Pretty good I guess,” April muttered.

Ben nodded in approval before Andy began to speak again. “I mean people make fun of them, but they’re just being negative,” he said as he reached for a piece of pepperoni. He yelped and quickly withdrew his hand from his plate. He dipped his hand in his water and continued, “I mean, this burns like hell, but it’s great. What was I saying? Oh yeah. The haters just aren’t giving these a chance. Donna, Tom, especially Leslie.”

April whacked Andy’s shoulder for bringing up Leslie. Ben gave April a look. “You guys don’t have to completely avoid Leslie in conversation. She’s part of all of our lives. No need to walk on eggshells around me. And you’re right. She really doesn’t like calzones.” Ben said the last part with a chuckle.

April decided that she wanted to hear a little more about Leslie. Ben was going to open up about this, whether he meant to or not. It was going to be good for him. “Do you know why she hates calzones so much, Ben?”

“I don’t think there’s any meaning below the surface, she’s just not a fan. She has an opinion on everything. Calzones are a thing. So she has an opinion on them. It happens to be a negative one. I’ve tried convincing her that they’re good, but she was extremely stubborn. It was really cute and-” he stopped himself, and narrowed his eyes. “Why are you asking?”

“Just curious. You said ‘and’. And what?” April inquired.

“You know, it’s just kind of a testament to who she is. She cares about everything. I think that’s a great quality to have. Why are you grilling me on this?”

“I’m not grilling you. I was just asking you about someone who is ‘part of all of our lives.’”

Ben tilted his head in an exasperated manner.

“Come on, bro. Just admit that it’s a sensitive topic,” Andy suggested as he shoveled cheese into his mouth.

Ben glanced at Andy’s sauce-covered hands, then addressed him. “I never said it wasn’t a sensitive topic, I just said it wasn’t a forbidden one.”

Andy’s face lit up. “Not forbidden, huh? Was Jerry’s painting accurate?”

April answered quickly, “Of course it was accurate. She’s clearly half horse. Very bang-able. Good choice, Ben.”

Ben grimaced, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Can you guys not? Just like...don’t?”

April snickered. “Yeah. Fine. But only because I want to.”

The conversation turned away from Leslie and to some other topics. Dinner ended pretty quickly, and April realized that she didn’t want this night to end so soon. Tomorrow, Ben would just go back to his room and mope around. This was her only chance to act as his therapist. Of course, April had convinced herself that she only wanted to act as a therapist because some therapists were creepy murderers. In reality, April just wanted Ben to feel better, and thought she could help if she knew more.

“You guys want to watch a movie? We have popcorn and beer, and Andy and I just got Inglourious Basterds,” April mentioned as Andy nodded excitedly.

“Sure. But I’ve already seen it. Saw it on opening weekend. I was a big fan of Reservoir Dogs, so when another Tarantino movie came out, I went straight to the theater. Chris saw it with me. He did not like it. I would love to watch it with you guys though.”

//

Soon, the movie was playing, and Andy and April were snuggling on the couch, with Ben uncomfortably sitting on the opposite side, clutching a bottle of beer. Inglourious Basterds was a big hit amongst the group. Andy and April were enthralled by the gore and violence, while Ben carefully processed the plot and historical context.

After the movie, Andy rushed to the bathroom. April turned to Ben. “That’s a fun movie.” Ben agreed, then April continued, “Must be a bummer to watch it alone, huh?”

“Umm. Not really. Still good... I don’t like where this is going.”

“I’m just saying, movies are much more enjoyable when you’re watching them with someone you love.”

Ben sat up straighter. “Are you trying to get me to say something? What’s your game here?”

“I’m just saying-”

“Stop saying ‘I’m just saying’!” Ben interrupted. “It’s not helping your subtlety.”

“I’m just saying, you and Leslie broke up over two months ago, and you’re still not over it.”

“Well we didn’t want to break up! Also, it’s kind of hard to get over someone when you work with them.”

“You know what else makes it hard to get over someone?”April asked with mock-earnesty.

“What?”

“When you’re in love with them.”

“Okay. I assume that’s true.”

“You know for a fact that’s true. Say it. It’s obvious. Say it!”

“I don’t wanna say it!”

“I think you do.”

“I really don’t. Even if it were true -which it’s not- it would be a huge bummer to say. Because it doesn’t affect anything. No matter how much I may or may not… you know, she’s still running for city council, and she won’t let me be an obstacle. If I told her, she’d probably just be like, ‘Too bad,’ and she’d continue with her race,” Ben said dejectedly.

“So what I’m hearing is that you are in fact in love with your ex? Say the words. Say it.” April asked with raised eyebrows.

“Sure. Fine. Maybe a bit. No to the last part. But it really doesn’t change anything. It’s a shitty situation either way.” Ben said as he took a sip of his beer. Then he glared at the bottle. “How much beer did I have to drink for you to get me to say that?”

“Almost none. That is the same bottle you were holding when we first sat down, and it’s still half full. So you were basically completely sober, and you just said it. You’re really bad at keeping secrets,” April said as she stifled a giggle. “I on the other hand, am a little bit tipsy, but I will have you know that I am lucid enough to remember this conversation.”

“Oh great,” Ben replied sarcastically. “Can you please not tell anyone? About… you know.”

April gave a thumbs-up, then stood up and walked towards her room. “No problem,” she said as she reached her door. She glanced at Ben. “One more thing: Leslie definitely wouldn’t say ‘Too bad’ if you told her. Not sure what she would say, just definitely not that. She’d probably say that she was a witch, then she’d kill her.”

“It’s completely off the table. Not even gonna think about it,” Ben said glumly, ignoring the last part of April’s comment.

“Okay. Also, this whole conversation was a post-death hallucination.”

“Thanks for the heads-up,” Ben replied before April shut her door.

Andy then wandered into the living room from the bathroom. “Where’d April go?”

“I think she went to sleep.”

“Oh,” Andy said before noticing Ben’s frown. “Hey are you okay? You look like you need a hug.”

Ben started, “No I’m-” before getting interrupted by a bear hug from Andy.

Andy released Ben. “Wanna talk about it?”

“Definitely not,” Ben answered, thinking back to his extremely personal conversation with April.

“Alright. But, I do want to point out that this whole thing was April’s idea. She wanted to do something nice for you. That doesn’t happen very often.”

“Yeah. Very rare. Like a blue moon.”

Andy suddenly looked alarmed. “Like a what?”

“A blue moon.”

Andy smirked before speaking smugly. “The moon isn’t blue, Ben. It’s white or yellow. Astronogy.”

“The word you’re thinking of is astrology. And it’s not astrology, it’s astronomy.”

“I’m pretty sure the moon is astronogy.”

Ben sighed tiredly. “Maybe,” he conceded, even though he knew he was right. “Good night, Andy.”

“Night,” Andy said as he sprung off of the couch and bounded into his room.

After Andy and April had left, Ben had no choice other than to consider the truth of what April had forced Ben to say. Ben thought that maybe April attempting to help was actually helpful. While Ben hadn’t even really said _it_ , and he doubted that he ever would, he was happy that he’d finally admitted it to himself.

**Author's Note:**

> Andy and April definitely know, not taking any criticism about that. I will die on this hill. How they found out is another story for another time. I'm probably never going to write it though; It's probably been done before by people who are definitely better at this than me.


End file.
